Will You Be There
by emmylouuwho
Summary: Sequel to my stories "Your Hand in Mind," "The Only Moment We Were Alone," and "Warm Whispers." Last fic in this series. Jess/Becker.
1. Chapter 1

_**I do not own Primeval, obviously, or any of its characters. Jess' sister is based on my own ridiculously lovable older sister.**_

* * *

><p><em>Weary,<em>

_Tell me will you hold me?_

_when wrong will you scold me?_

_when lost will you find me?_

_But they told me,_

_a man should be faithful_

_and walk when not able,_

_and fight til the end._

_But I'm only human..._

* * *

><p>It wasn't until Becker woke up at Jess' flat on Saturday morning that he noticed the open suitcase in the corner of her bedroom, half-packed, clothes spilling out of it. It wasn't surprising that he hadn't noticed it the night before; he and Jess had been far more interested in each other. Becker turned on his side, pulling Jess against him, his arms around her waist. She sighed, stretching slightly, and snuggled back against him.<p>

"Are you going somewhere?" he murmured in her ear.

"Hmm?" she said sleepily, not opening her eyes. "No, I'm happy right here at the moment."

He chuckled into her shoulder. "No, I meant the suitcase." She turned her head, and he gestured toward it with his chin.

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" she said with a yawn. "I'm going to visit my sister for a couple days. For my niece's birthday." Another yawn slurred the last words. Then she continued, "Well, two days, exactly. And I had to ask six months in advance for the time off. Then I had to bribe, threaten, and coerce Lester into okaying the request and not backing out at the last minute."

"Bribe?" Becker raised an eyebrow.

"Yep. I'd tell you," she said, turning in his arms to face him, a devious smile playing across her lips. "But then I'd have to kill you."

* * *

><p>"OK, don't forget you need to pick me up here at 11:30 on Tuesday night," Jess said, again, as she pulled her bag out of the boot of Abby's car.<p>

"Yes, Jess, we know. You've told us at least seven times today, and you left a note on the fridge, didn't you?" Connor said, grinning at her unusual discomfiture. She was always so in control; this nervous, uncertain Jess was something new altogether. Clearly she didn't like the idea of being gone, away from home and work and her comfort zone, for any length of time.

Jess gave him a scathing look before returning to her frantic search in her purse for her passport and ticket.

* * *

><p>Jess' sister, Angie, her brother-in-law, Kevin, and their three children - five-year-old Michael, almost-four-year-old Emma, and six-month-old Jamie - met her at the airport a few hours later. Angie held baby Jamie in a carrier strapped to her chest, holding onto Michael's hand, which he clearly did not appreciate, while Kevin held Emma against his hip in one arm. Jess waved, and, seeing her Auntie Jess, Emma began to bounce up and down excitedly in her father's arms.<p>

As Jess walked up, Emma was finally allowed to clamber down and she threw herself into her aunt's arms.

"Auntie Jess! Auntie Jess! You came!" she said happily. "Guess what, tomorrow's my birthday!"

"I know, love," Jess replied, grinning. "Didn't I tell you I'd be here?"

Emma hugged her again, and Michael came over for a hug as well. Standing, Jess hugged her sister, kissing her cheek and the top of Jamie's head, before moving over to hug her brother-in-law.

* * *

><p>Jess spent the next two days avoiding her family's questions about her job. Her father, a doctor, had traveled to Dublin a few days before her, and wondered why she had more trouble than him getting away from work.<p>

"I keep telling you, Dad," Jess said, trying to turn it into a joke. "Computer problems in the civil service never end."

Angie, however, read the frustration behind her sister's smiles.

* * *

><p>It was the same dream she'd had almost every night since Connor's revelation about the anomalies. She stood in the middle of a normally crowded street, but suddenly it was deserted. There were anomalies opening everywhere, and people went through them and never came back. The only things that came out of them were horrifying creatures. Jess was rooted to the spot, an anomaly every few feet in every direction, and dinosaurs and creatures from every time were all heading straight for her. And every time, she woke just as they converged on her, pausing before they sprang.<p>

Jess, sleeping in her sister's spare room, woke with a start, stifling a scream against her hand. After a few minutes spent calming her breathing, she padded softly down the hall, intending to get a glass of water from the kitchen. Then she made a detour to the children's rooms, which were right across from each other, as though she needed to make sure they were still there, that they were safe.

The boys were on the left, and Jess looked in on the familiar room, which she had helped to paint a light blue when Angie and Kevin learned their first child would be a boy. And now there were two boys. Michael slept peacefully on one side of the room on his favorite Superman sheets, while Jamie slept under a baseball mobile in his crib across the room. Jess backed softly out of the room, pulling the door almost closed, and turned to Emma's room. In the faint light of a Little Mermaid night light, she saw that her niece had finally succumbed to sleep after hours spent excitedly chattering about her party the following day. Jess smiled at the innocent sight of an exhausted little girl asleep with a smile on her face, curled up under her Disney princess comforter, sweetly dreaming.

* * *

><p>The two women stood in the kitchen the next afternoon, ignoring the screams and laughter coming from the backyard, where Emma's party was being held. There were plenty of adults outside to deal with anything serious, and this was the first opportunity the sisters had gotten to catch up, just the two of them.<p>

"I'm sensing I still shouldn't ask about work," Angie said teasingly, and Jess nodded. "Especially seeing as the last time I asked, I got some speech about the civil service bureaucracy and national security and how it's too boring to talk about anyway. So the next obvious topic is guys."

Jess rolled her eyes. "_Angela_, I am twenty years old! My love life is my own business!"

"Oh please, you've been twenty for like a month. Besides, I'm your sister, everything is my business, and always will be. So, does that mean there's a guy?" Jess blushed in spite of herself, and Angie pointed at her, mock accusingly. "Ha! I knew it! _Spill_."

Jess smiled. She'd missed Angie; talking to her was as natural as breathing. They'd been best friends, despite the gap in their ages, for most of Jess' life. Her biggest problem with working at the ARC was that it meant that there was now a huge chunk of her life that she couldn't share with her sister.

"Well," Jess said slowly. "There's a guy at work."

Angie grinned from ear to ear, clapping her hands like a little girl before pulling herself up onto the counter. She took a sip of her soda and looked at Jess expectantly. "And? _Well_? Come on."

_And people at the ARC think I'm the crazy one_, Jess thought, shaking her head, and pulling herself up to sit on the opposite countertop.

"Well," she continued, taking a breath before continuing in her normal rambling, rushed speech, swinging her jean-clad legs from side to side. "He's in the military, sort of the head of security for the office where I work. We've been seeing each other for a few weeks..."


	2. Chapter 2

Abby and Connor picked Jess up at the airport late that night in one of the ARC's trucks. Jess slid into the backseat with a relieved sigh, letting her eyes close contentedly for a few moments. Connor chivalrously offered to heft her suitcase into the truck bed and now Jess listened as he and Abby argued over who got to drive. Jess smiled at their familiar antics as they resorted to "Rock, Paper, Scissors," which Abby won, and then climbed into the truck, she with a satisfied smirk and he with a disappointed frown. Jess' smile widened. _It's good to be home._ She loved her family, but the weight of her top-secret job seemed to increase with each hour spent with them, each hour spent avoiding their questions, and now it was suddenly lifted from her shoulders. The couple's half-serious disagreement was forgotten as they questioned Jess about her trip, drawing her easily into their banter.

* * *

><p>Becker found that he missed Jess a lot more than he thought he would have, or that he <em>should<em> have, in the brief time that she was gone. They'd only been dating a few weeks, so they still had blinders on when it came to the rest of the world; they only noticed each other. It didn't help that they saw each other every day at work as well as most nights, so being without her for even forty-eight hours had seemed like a very long time to Becker.

He came in to work very early on Wednesday morning, anxious to see Jess. She came in later than usual, obviously still tired from traveling. Becker saw her from the other end of one of the corridors in the ARC. He stood there, just staring at her. Then their eyes met.

* * *

><p>Jess stopped in her tracks in the corridor just after leaving the ARC's locker room that morning. She caught sight of Becker several yards away, and suddenly there didn't seem to be enough oxygen in the room. She forced herself to walk toward him, even though her legs wanted to sprint to him as fast as they could. They stopped about a foot apart, just staring at each other. Then he closed the space between them, and she wrapped her arms around his waist, feeling his cheek against the top of her head as his arms came around her.<p>

She squeezed him tight, and he kissed the top of her head, whispering, "I missed you." She nodded. She'd missed him too.


	3. Chapter 3

Becker had become a regular fixture in Jess' kitchen most mornings, and Abby and Connor had long since grown used to him, although they still enjoyed teasing him occasionally. On that particular morning, three days after Jess returned home, Abby was called in to work early.

"Sid got into a bit of an argument with one of the other creatures, they didn't say which," Abby said, grabbing her coat from a chair back and heading for the door. "He needs stitches, and of course the night shift doesn't know what the hell they're doing."

She was trying to seem unconcerned, but the three of them, Becker, Jess, and Connor, knew it was all an act. Rex, Sid, and Nancy were still her pets, as far as Abby was concerned.

* * *

><p>A little while later, when Jess discovered there was no coffee to be had in the flat, she, Becker, and Connor headed to a coffee shop that was just down the street before going to work. About halfway there, Connor's phone began to ring. He slowed, patting his pockets trying to find his phone, and waved Becker and Jess on. Locating the correct pocket, he pulled out the phone with a triumphant cry.<p>

Connor frowned in confusion at the unknown number before answering. "Hello?"

"Hey, Conn. It's me," Abby's voice came over the line, sounding frustrated.

"How's Sid?" Connor asked, idly examining the contents of a window display before him.

"He's fine. Listen, I left my mobile on the kitchen counter. Do you think you could bring it with you when you come in?"

Connor's attention was diverted by a movement in the alley, where something was rustling the rubbish strewn around the dumpsters.

"Sure." He stepped closer to the alley, leaning to one side to try to see what was making the noise.

"You alright?"

Abby sounded curious and concerned, and Connor smiled, turning back in the direction Jess and Becker had gone.

"Yeah. I just thought I saw somethi-"

Abby heard Connor yell, then a thud, a crash, static, and silence.

* * *

><p>Becker and Jess walked down the sidewalk, slowly so that Connor could catch up. They didn't touch, but were close enough that their arms, and sometimes their hands, brushed against each other. Jess chattered away, about shop window displays, bumper stickers she saw, people they passed; a half smile on his lips, Becker listened more to the sound of her voice than to Jess' words. And then he heard a shout behind him, and Jess fell silent.<p>

"That was Connor," she said in a frightened whisper.

Becker nodded, his lips pressed into a thin line. "Stay here."

He turned, sprinting back the way they'd come without a second thought. When he got to where he and Jess had left Connor, he stopped, looking around. Then he saw a cell phone, smashed in pieces on the sidewalk, and a smear along the concrete leading into the alley. A familiar, flickering light caught his eye just as he heard Jess come up behind him. _No. Not here._

Becker looked down at Jess angrily, mildly surprised at the furious look on her own face, but before he could say a word, she noticed the flickering light as well.

"Oh no."


	4. Chapter 4

"Alright, you stay here, and when the team gets here, you tell them what happened, and that I went in after Connor."

"What?" Jess asked, but Becker was only half listening. "First of all, I thought you were the one who was opposed to going through anomalies. And second, you're crazy if you think I'm letting you go in there on your own."

Becker continued pulling cases out of the back of his truck, which was fortunately parked on the street outside Jess' flat, only a few yards from the anomaly site. He opened the case containing EMDs and was surprised when a small hand reached around him to pick up one. He turned, staring Jess down. But, in place of her normally cheerful open expression, was a face like thunder.

"_Jessica_," he said in his most threatening voice, drawing her name out.

"Connor is my friend too, _Hilary_," she said angrily. "Besides, you'll need backup, and I'm all you've got at the moment."

At the mention of his first name, Becker's mouth opened, then shut quickly. He really shouldn't be surprised. It was Jess' job to know everything about everyone. They stared each other down for a few seconds, but Becker finally caved. _We don't have time to waste,_ he reasoned. At least he'd managed to give Jess a few shooting lessons since her last attempt at field work.

* * *

><p>Connor awoke with a massive headache. He remembered seeing something, an animal... he'd thought it was a dog... It jumped out on him... he hit the ground...<p>

Opening his eyes slowly, he looked about him. It was dark, but it wasn't night; he could see sunlight filtering in from somewhere behind him. He was lying on the ground, in a cave maybe. He sat up cautiously, feeling the back of his head where he'd fallen. _Yep, definitely going to be a bump._ It was dark, and also very cold. His leather jacket, which had been plenty for the early spring weather in London, didn't feel nearly sufficient here. Wherever, whenever, here was. He felt a breeze across his right ankle and looked down to see that his right pants leg was shredded. There were several scratches on that ankle as well, as though he'd been dragged by something.

"Ouch," he said softly, wincing. A low growl emanated from deeper inside the cave.

* * *

><p>Jess could see it in his face the moment Becker gave in. She resisted the urge to bounce on her heels. That wouldn't exactly inspire confidence in her field skills.<p>

"Alright," he said brusquely. "You stay behind me, and you do exactly as I say. I mean it, Jess."

She nodded, mock saluting. "Aye aye."

He gave her a withering look as he slung the strap of a rifle EMD over his shoulder. "Wrong branch of the military."

"Sorry."

Jess opened another case and pulled out two comm. earpieces, handing one to Becker. He took it, looking at her in confusion.

"I thought these wouldn't work in the anomalies."

"They won't work with one on each end of the anomaly. But we can use them to hear each other once we're both on the other side."

"I'm not planning on letting you out of my sight, much less far enough away to need comms."

"Just in case?" Jess said, and Becker nodded reluctantly, putting the comm. in his ear.


	5. Chapter 5

Abby was still in the menagerie when the anomaly alert sounded, a loud siren blaring through the comparative silence. She was in the middle of a call to Connor, and closed the door to her office, blocking out the noise. Then the call suddenly disconnected, and she thought she heard Connor yell. She was just trying to call him back when Matt's voice came over the comms.

"Abby, you need to get up here."

When she got to Ops, Matt was the only other member of their team there.

"Where is it?" she asked as she walked up to the ADD. "And where are Connor and the rest? They should've been here by now."

Matt looked concerned, or as concerned as he ever looked, and Abby felt a small prick of fear.

"Look where it is, Abby," he said.

Abby looked at the screen of the ADD, where the anomaly had been located and gasped. It was two blocks from her flat.

"That's-"

"That's not the worst of it," he interrupted. "Becker called a moment ago. Something's happened to Connor. He went through the anomaly."

Abby shook her head. Someone must have taken him. He wouldn't go willingly back through an anomaly. Not after last time. One part of her mind refused to believe it, refused to believe that someone, _something_, had taken Connor; while the other, more rational part reasoned that that explained the noises over the phone and the dropped call.

"Is Becker still there?" she picked up the phone on Jess' desk, ignoring the night shift tech.

"Well, yes and no."

* * *

><p>Jess squeezed her eyes shut as she walked through the anomaly after Becker. She wasn't sure what it would feel like, but she didn't really feel anything. Except cold. It was freezing wherever they were. They were on the side of a hill, a few sparse trees growing here and there, patches of snow in the shadows of the larger trunks. Becker was looking at the ground around the anomaly, probably for tracks to follow, but Jess looked around them, her arms wrapped around her, stamping her feet. Something bright, a patch of red amid all the dull greys and browns, caught her eye a few yards away to her left.<p>

"Becker, look."

She walked towards it slowly. She was only a few steps away when Becker caught her arm.

"Jess, be careful."

"Look, that's Connor's." The patch of red was his scarf, crumpled and muddy. Jess picked it up, tucking the fabric into her coat pocket.

He and Abby had finally gone to the storage unit where all their possessions from their flat were stored while they were missing the previous week.

_Connor opened a box of clothes, his and Abby's mixed together by whomever had packed, and pulled out a striped red scarf with a cry of delight._

_"I loved this thing!" He immediately wrapped it around his neck. Abby and Jess both looked at him, amazed at his reaction to a scarf. "What? It was a present."_

Since then, he wore it almost every day.

Becker and Jess followed the path of flattened grass and smeared mud up the hillside, which seemed pocketed with caves. Becker charged his EMD and raised it, making sure he was between Jess and the caves, as they drew nearer. He turned back to put a finger to his lips, and Jess gripped her own EMD tighter with a gulp. _Why did I volunteer for this again?_

Soon she heard the sounds as well. Low growls and occasional yelps. They neared a larger cave mouth, and suddenly a pale hand appeared. _Connor._ He was edging himself out of the cave, into the open air. Becker stepped forward quickly, clamping a hand over Connor's mouth from behind before Connor could see them and alert whatever creatures were nearby.

A muffled yelp came from Connor and Jess swallowed a gasp. They all stood perfectly still, hardly daring to breath. Becker was crouched just behind Connor, who was sitting with his legs stretched out toward the cave's interior, and Jess was behind Becker, a hand on his shoulder to let him know she was there.

After a tense moment, Becker hissed, "What are we looking at?"

"Dogs. Big dogs. _Crocuta crocuta spelaea_," Connor replied. "Cave hyenas."

"Hyenas?" Jess asked, crouching down so that all three of their faces were inches apart as they whispered. "I thought they lived in the desert. In Africa."

"Jess?" Connor's whisper was filled with disbelief. "Taking another crack at field work, are you?"

"I'm being Becker's backup. So, when are we anyway? And when can we get out of here?"


	6. Chapter 6

"Pleistocene." Connor received two blank looks, and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He was in enough trouble.

Before he could elaborate, however, Becker stiffened, looking over Connor's head. He turned slowly and saw the whole pack of cave hyenas, who had apparently brought their fight over the remnants of the other spoils of their scavenging on the other side of the anomaly - a stray dog and what he thought, from the purple collar with a bell on, must've been a cat - outside.

Now all five of the creatures were only a few feet away.

"Hyenas are scavengers, right?" Becker asked, not taking his eyes off the creatures. "So they won't attack?"

"Not unless we provoke them, yeah?" Connor said. "Or so Abby told me once. I think. I wasn't really paying attention at the time."

"Okay, so let's not provoke them," Jess said quietly.

"And let's get out of here," Connor agreed.

* * *

><p>Becker quickly made his decision and handed the smaller EMD he was carrying to Connor, and pulled him to his feet, hands under his arms. Connor winced, standing on his uninjured leg. Jess put an arm around his waist, taking some of his weight, and started back for the anomaly, while Becker followed, slowly backing away from the creatures. Connor and Jess were whispering back and forth, but he wasn't paying attention to the thread of conversation.<p>

"Um, Becker," he heard Jess say in a strained voice.

Becker took his eyes off the creatures, who were now quite a distance away, and slowly turned. They were several yards from the anomaly, and it was locked, the flickering prisms of white and yellow pressed into an impenetrable sphere.

Survival instincts kicked in, and Becker looked around for the nearest shelter. He found it in a shallow cave, no more than a dent in the rock, about the size of a coat closet.

"In here."

Jess and Connor tried to turn back, but Connor stumbled, crumpling to the ground with a hiss. Becker came on Connor's other side, and between him and Jess, they got Connor inside and leaning against the cave's back wall, his legs outstretched. Becker crouched at the entrance, EMD raised. Jess knelt next to Connor, and silently handed the scarf in her pocket back to him. Connor accepted it with an uncharacteristically silent nod, wrapping it around his neck against the cold.

Jess whispered to Becker across Connor, rubbing her hands up and down her arms, trying to chafe some feeling back into them. "What are we going to do now?"


	7. Chapter 7

The soldiers already at the anomaly site radioed in to Matt as he and Abby sped down the street, to tell him that the anomaly was safely locked, and the area secured.

"What?" Abby, hearing this news over the comm., turned to Matt in surprise. "Tell them to open it back up! They could be trying to get back through right now."

"Davidson, don't do anything until I get there."

"Becker can take care of them until we get there and see what's going on," Matt replied.

_How can he be so damn calm_? Abby thought. _They're his friends too_.

* * *

><p>The sun was beginning to set, the temperature plunging swiftly, while Becker, Jess, and Connor huddled in a hole in the hillside. Becker and Jess had entered the anomaly less than an hour ago, but they were all shaking with cold. All, or at least most, of their concerns about personal space had been discarded in favor of staving off hypothermia.<p>

"So, Temple," Becker said, as though he just thought of it. "What time period are we in again?"

"Pleistocene," Connor replied through chattering teeth. "Y'know... the Ice... Age."

"Right, so what kind of creatures are we looking at?"

Jess, huddled between the two, started, her head coming off Becker's shoulder. "Creatures? Where?"

"Nowhere," Becker said soothingly. "Connor was just about to tell us about the fascinating creatures we might be facing. In the Ice Age." The last was said with some bitterness in Becker's voice.

"Oh right," Connor murmured vaguely. Jess turned to Becker, brow furrowed in obvious concern for the injured Connor. Becker looked down at her, noting with a pang of apprehension the bluish tinge to her lips.

"So, if this is the Ice Age, why isn't it snowing?" Becker asked, giving Connor's uninjured leg a light kick to gain his attention.

"You want snow now on top of everything else?" Jess asked, almost angrily.

"Just curious," Becker replied with a shrug, taken aback.

"Actually, it's probably late spring or summer here," Connor chimed in, and was met with two stunned looks.

"Summer?" Jess sounded almost hysterical.

"You really don't like the cold, do you?" Connor commented, a faint smile on his blue lips.

Chuckling, Becker heaved himself to his feet. With shuffling steps, he looked out of their small hiding place across the field to the anomaly. It was still locked. _But at least it's still open_, Becker thought. _Not that it'll be much good if we stay here much longer._ Becker's military training told him that, without proper shelter and clothing in these temperatures, they wouldn't last the night. He set his watch for an hour, when he would check again. Then turned back to his friends, trying to keep his face expressionless.


	8. Chapter 8

Becker had drifted to sleep, his cheek resting on the top of Jess' head, when his watch beeped. Jess tiredly shifted to wrap her other arm around Connor as Becker stood.

"Don't mention a word of this to Abby, alright?" Connor muttered, not opening his eyes, and Jess nodded, her head now resting against his.

Becker walked once more to the entrance, and saw that it was now fully dark, the anomaly the only light apart from the few stars that shone through the clouds. Still closed. He turned back, wondering what was taking them so long. Or if they would open it again at all.

Out of the corner of his eye, a movement, a flash of light, caught his attention. Something, a shape, blocked out the light from the anomaly as it moved across the field. Something big. And when the anomaly appeared again, it was different. It was open.

* * *

><p>"Jess!" Becker hissed, kneeling at her side. "The anomaly, it's open."<p>

"What?" Jess sat up straight, nudging Connor. "Well, let's go."

"There's something else out there. I'm going to go have a look first."

"Okay. Be careful," Jess said seriously, looking him in the eye. Holding his gaze.

"You too." Becker grinned. " And stay warm."

Jess rolled her eyes, punching him lightly on the arm. With that, Becker stood and walked out of the small cave.

"Connor," Jess whispered, nudging him again. "Connor, wake up. We're going home."

He didn't move. Jess reluctantly pulled a hand out of her coat pocket and put two fingers against his neck, checking his pulse. It was faint. Jess pawed through the supplies in Becker's pack and found a torch. Covering the beam, she shone a little of the light onto Connor's face, which was white as a sheet. It was then that she noticed the red tinge on the side of his head. Shining more light on it, she saw that it was dried blood around a large lump, most likely from where he fell when attacked by the creatures. There wasn't much she could do here, even if she'd known what to do.

* * *

><p>Becker walked cautiously towards the anomaly, and as he neared, he saw the shadow that had passed grow larger and larger. It was a mammoth, moving away from him, and Becker wondered what it was doing out at night. More shadows, these smaller, moved about it, between the mammoth and the anomaly. Becker raised his EMD, expecting more creatures, but was greeted by Matt's Irish accented call through the darkness.<p>

"Alright, Becker?"

Becker grinned despite himself. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Getting permission to mount a rescue mission from Burton. Long story."

"Where's Connor and Jess?" Abby asked, stepping up beside the two men.

"Back this way."

* * *

><p>Jess heard movement outside the cave, and scrambled for the EMD at her side, raising it hurriedly along with the torch. Becker's face appeared around the corner, and then Matt's and Abby's along with him. Jess let her EMD drop with a sigh of relief, which turned into a shiver. Abby bent over Connor, who was still unconscious. "What's wrong with him?"<p>

"He won't wake up. I think he might've gotten a concussion earlier," Jess said softly, watching sympathetically the effect her words had on Abby. She might as well have slapped her.

"Let's get him out of here," Matt said as he and Becker each seized an arm and lifted Connor onto their shoulders, his head lolling weirdly from side to side as they walked.

Soldiers met them near the anomaly, and Jess felt as though she were entering a sauna as she stepped through into the brisk morning air of present day London. More soldiers were waiting on the other side, along with medics who immediately readied a stretcher for Connor, and wrapped Jess and Becker in bright orange blankets.


	9. Chapter 9

Connor woke up in a hospital bed several hours later. He cracked his eyes open groggily, and saw Abby sitting next to the bed, while Jess and Becker were in two beds to his left, Matt in a chair between the two of them. Matt and Becker were having a quiet conversation, their tones tense, angry, and Jess was asleep, curled up on her side facing away from the argument behind her, blankets tucked into a sort of cocoon.

Abby was glaring at him when he turned back to her so that at first he didn't notice her holding his hand in both of hers.

"Scare me like that again and I'll kill you myself," she said threateningly, but the effect was spoiled by a tear streaking down her cheek.

Connor gave her a lopsided grin. "Love you too."

Abby rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh, scrubbing at her cheeks with one hand.

* * *

><p>Jess woke gasping, her heart pounding in her ears. <em>It's alright,<em> she told herself, putting a hand to her racing heart. _You're home. You're safe_. She repeated the words again and again, wishing she believed them.

Her flat felt strange without Abby or Connor there. She'd gotten used to their presence in the months they'd been living with her. Now the flat seemed incredibly large and empty, while at the same time the walls seemed to be closing in about her.

She flung the blankets off her legs and climbed out of bed. Going to the wardrobe, she stuffed her feet into a pair of grey knit wool boots, pulled a coat off its hanger, and grabbed her purse as she walked out the door.

* * *

><p>Becker woke to a loud knock on his front door. Sighing, he got up, picking his t-shirt up from where he'd tossed it to the floor earlier, and pulled it over his head. The knocking grew louder and more insistent, and his instincts and defensive training kicked in. Approaching the front door slowly, he cautiously looked through the peephole. His breath came out in a relieved rush, and he opened the door to find a distraught Jess standing on his doorstep.<p>

He barely had time to register Jess' appearance - a tan mac pulled over an over-sized pink t-shirt and a pair of black leggings - before she rushed at him, throwing her arms around his waist and burying her face in his chest.

"Oof." He took a step backward in surprise. "Jess?"

She was trembling, her breath coming out in dry sobs.

"I dreamt everyone else got sucked into anomalies, and I was all alone, and then all these creatures started coming out of the anomalies. And I didn't know what to do. And then I woke up and the flat was so quiet. Connor and Abby are still at the ARC, and it just felt so empty." She finally took a breath. "So I came over here. And now I realize I'm just being a baby."

"Yeah, maybe you are," he said, his chin resting on her head.

Jess looked up at him, and Becker cursed himself when he saw her crestfallen expression.

"Sorry, I shouldn't tease you. You were frightened." She nodded, pressing her cheek to his chest again. "Come on, come inside."

Becker led her into the living room, deposited her into a chair, and managed to disentangle himself. He went to the kitchen and poured a glass of water. Coming back into the living room, he sat on the ottoman in front of her.

Jess was sitting with her feet tucked underneath her, coat and bag abandoned on the floor next to the armchair. Her shirt hung off one shoulder, revealing the strap of a blue tank top, and she was staring blankly ahead, her face still etched with fear. She looked up almost in surprise when he entered her field of vision, and accepted the water glass numbly. Holding the glass in one hand and taking large gulps of water, she clutched the fabric at the knee of his sweatpants in her other fist. It was as though she were afraid he would disappear at any moment. Taking the empty glass from her, he leaned back to set it on the coffee table behind him.

"Jessica," he said seriously, turning back to look directly in her eyes. "You don't need to worry. I'm not going anywhere."

She nodded mutely and leaned forward to kiss him, her fingers tangling in his hair. Becker was more than happy to oblige, gathering her into his lap. One arm around her back, the other hand holding the back of Jess' neck, Becker kissed her again, and she sighed, clinging to him. He deepened their kiss, then eventually he released her, setting her gently on her feet. Then Becker stood up himself, taking Jess' hand and leading her down the hall.

* * *

><p>Jess woke contentedly the next morning in a cocoon of warmth, lying with Becker pressed against her side, the blankets tucked around the two of them. Somehow, in Becker's arms, she never had the nightmares she'd been plagued with since Connor told them all about the anomalies and what could happen in the very near future. She knew he would keep her safe. And she would keep him safe, just as they had been doing since they began working together more than a year and a half ago. Only now they protected each other for different reasons. But perhaps the reasons didn't matter so much. All that mattered was the fact that she was not about to let anything happen to her Becker, just as he wouldn't let anything happen to her. Whatever happened, they'd face it together.<p>

**_Author's Note: This is the last in this particular series of Jess/Becker fics, but I will be writing more don't worry. As soon as I get some more ideas for plots._**


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